Acts 19

The TorahRooted Bible (TRB), translated directly from the Hebrew and Greek.

Paul in Ephesus

¹ And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples, ² he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" So they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." ³ And he said to them, "Into what then were you baptized?" So they said, "Into John's baptism." ⁴ Then Paul said, "John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe in Him who would come after him, that is, in the Messiah Yeshua." ⁵ When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Yeshua. ⁶ And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. ⁷ Now the men were about twelve in all.

⁸ And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of Elohim. ⁹ But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of a certain Tyrannus. ¹⁰ And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Yeshua, both Jews and Greeks.

¹¹ Now Elohim worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, ¹² so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.

The sons of Sceva

¹³ Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Yeshua over those who had evil spirits, saying, "We adjure you by the Yeshua whom Paul preaches." ¹⁴ Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. ¹⁵ And the evil spirit answered and said, "Yeshua I know, and Paul I know about; but who are you?" ¹⁶ Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. ¹⁷ This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Yeshua was magnified. ¹⁸ And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. ¹⁹ Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up their value, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. ²⁰ So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

²¹ When these things were accomplished, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, "After I have been there, I must also see Rome." ²² So he sent into Macedonia two of those who ministered to him, Timothy and Erastus, but he himself stayed in Asia for a time.

The riot in Ephesus

²³ And about that time there arose no small commotion about the Way. ²⁴ For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no small profit to the craftsmen. ²⁵ He called them together with the workers of similar trades, and said, "Men, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade. ²⁶ Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands. ²⁷ So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship." ²⁸ Now when they heard this, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" ²⁹ So the whole city was filled with confusion, and they rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul's traveling companions. ³⁰ And when Paul wanted to go in to the people, the disciples would not allow him. ³¹ Then some of the officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent to him pleading that he would not venture into the theater. ³² Some therefore cried one thing and some another, for the assembly was confused, and most of them did not know why they had come together. ³³ And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander motioned with his hand, and wanted to make his defense to the people. ³⁴ But when they found out that he was a Jew, all with one voice cried out for about two hours, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"

³⁵ And when the city clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, "Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple guardian of the great goddess Artemis, and of the image which fell down from Zeus? ³⁶ Therefore, since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rashly. ³⁷ For you have brought these men here who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of your goddess. ³⁸ Therefore, if Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a case against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. ³⁹ But if you are seeking anything about other matters, it will be settled in the lawful assembly. ⁴⁰ For we are in danger of being called in question for today's uproar, there being no reason which we may give to account for this disorderly gathering." ⁴¹ And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

Notes

• 19:9 In Acts the followers of Yeshua are called "the Way" (hē hodos; 9:2; 19:23; 24:14), a name that recalls the Hebrew Scriptures, where walking in the way of Yahweh means a life of obedience (Genesis 18:19; Isaiah 40:3); the Dead Sea Scrolls also speak of their community's life as "the way." Paul himself later says, "according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the Elohim of my fathers" (24:14).
• 19:14 No high priest named Sceva is known from Josephus or other lists; "chief priest" (archiereus) could mean a member of one of the leading priestly families, or the title may have been his own claim. Luke's point is that the name of Yeshua is not a spell that works for those who do not know Him (verse 15).
• 19:19 Ephesus was known in the ancient world for its books of magic, and written spells were even called "Ephesian letters." The pieces of silver were most likely drachmas, each about a day's wage, so the books burned were worth some fifty thousand days of work: those who believed gave up what the Torah forbids (Deuteronomy 18:10-12), whatever it cost.
• 19:24 The great temple of Artemis at Ephesus was counted among the wonders of the ancient world, and the Artemis of Ephesus was honored there as the city's mother goddess, unlike the huntress of Greek legend; older Bibles call her by her Latin name, Diana. The "image which fell down from Zeus" (verse 35) was a sacred image said to have come from the sky, perhaps a meteorite.
• 19:39 "Assembly" here is ekklēsia, the regular gathering of the citizens of a Greek city, the same word Acts uses for the assembly of believers (15:22; 20:28) and the word the Septuagint uses for the qahal, the assembly of Israel. The riot of verse 32 was also called an ekklēsia, but only a "lawful" one could decide matters.

Acts 18 · Acts 20

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